Clearing House
by HerpoTheFoul
Summary: Hotch is shot while going after an Unsub and starts having dark thoughts, realizations, and questions his future with the FBI. This story is from Hotch's POV. Chapter four is up. WARNING: GRAPHIC DEPICTIONS OF VIOLENCE. First summary, first fanfic. In desperate need of some criticism good or bad.
1. Chapter 1

My first fanfiction FYI. I own nothing.

Conrad Wallace was a 28 year old man who was currently holding up in Laurie Jasser's house; the next victim if Hotch and his team didn't get there soon. "Morgan and JJ go through the back door, Reid and Rossi you'll come through the front, Emily and I will go in first. Let's do this quickly and quietly." said Hotch over speaker phone to his team as they raced to 1327 Valour Street in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Finally they pulled up to the brown and green house, Hotch getting out first then quickly ducking behind it with Emily and Reid. Morgan, Rossi and JJ hiding behind the other that pulled up right behind them. Hotch unholstered his weapon signaling the others to do so then they all quickly made their way to the house. As planned Morgan and JJ ran around to the back, Hotch placed himself in front of the door, behind him Emily, Rossi and Reid were ready on his heels. He willed the door to be unlocked as he reached for the door knob; he didn't want to think of what could go wrong if he kicked the door down alerting Wallace. He turned to knob opening the door with an audible squeak that made him cringe as he looked down his iron sights left, right, and forward as he silently crept into an empty corridor as Rossi and Reid cleared the first room, with Emily following closely behind him.

Coming to a corner he stopped to check his surroundings and listened for any disturbances. Finding none he stepped into what he could see to be a corridor. He heard shuffling behind him and pressed himself up against the wall and was about to point his gun at the source of the noise when he saw Emily pop her head from behind the corner and nod towards the adjacent kitchen. Hotch gathered himself and continued to walk down the corridor ready to kill Conrad Wallace. A shot rang out and he dived into a room on his left, he tried to stand but became dizzy and fell back down.

"Hotch! Hotch sound off!" Rossi yelled. Hotch tried to answer 'I'm here' but it came out as a strangled grunt. He could hear more gunshots and frantic yelling. "He's wearing a vest, shoot him in the head!" He thought he heard JJ shout. 'Someone could've been shot.' he thought to himself as he struggled to stand in the empty room again. Finally he was was successful and stood up to make his way into the kitchen where the noises seemed to be coming from but almost immediately stumbled backwards further into the room and fell hard to the floor hitting his head. Hotch tried to stand up again when his equilibrium disappeared and was forced back down again. He heard shouting but could hear no more gun shots.

"Aaron!" Dave said as he approached Hotch with his gun drawn. He knelt on Hotch's right side then grabbed his radio, "We need medics in here now!" 'Where was Wallace? Was he dead?' He thought as his shirt and vest were undone by unseen hands. "Aaron, look at me!" commanded Dave. That's all he could do; look at Dave and wonder what was going on. He saw Morgan and Emily rush into the room, Morgan knelt by his left side. He was sure someone was pouring warm water on his chest that eventually pooled underneath him. Emily appeared over him and obstructed his view of the ceiling fan as her mouth began to move. He realized he could hear nothing but ringing in his ears for a few moments before voices and noises came back in waves. Many things were drowning out his thoughts; radio chatter, shouting from far away, hands on his body, "... you hear me Hotch?" 'Was that Emily?' Hotch asked himself. 'I should answer her, she looks...'

"What..." He tried but found he had little breath to spare, he settled for moaning for help. He fought to breath as Morgan loosed his belt. "Come on Hotch just breathe, you've got to breathe! You'll be OK!" Morgan shouted at him with a look of desperation. 'Why am I in so much pain?' Hotch thought to himself. 'Are they safe? Is Wallace dead? Why is everyone telling me to breathe?' He looked at where he thought the blinding pain was coming from but all he could see were bloody hands pressing down on his chest. 'I can't take this... please make it stop, someone make it stop. "Dave." Hotch choked out as he looked at him with pleading eyes. "Medics are coming just hold on Aaron," said Dave as he stroked his head with a bloody hand. "You're going to be OK but you have to keep breathing." Hotch looked at Emily who ran her hands through his hair smiling, but her eyes gave her away. Like a freight train his mind caught up to his body and all at once realization dawned and pain blossomed.

As adrenaline coursed through his veins he spoke; "Where am I hit? Am I bleeding? Wallace..." his mind filled up with frantic questions. "Don't talk Aaron just breathe, don't move." Dave said as he cupped Hotch's face in an effort to comfort him, he looked to his right and shouted, "Get them in here now!" His thoughts became hazy and slow as Dave, Morgan and Emily left to be replaced by four Paramedics who Hotch identified only as 'men in white' to his addled brain. They were applying pressure to his gunshot wound, giving him oxygen and taking his blood pressure; in Hotch's mind they were causing him more pain and suffocating him by strapping something around his head, he tried to take it off. "No Aaron, leave it on it's oxygen it will help you breathe." said the stranger in white. Hotch didn't believe him, he tried for the mask again but both of his arms were grabbed roughly and held down. He felt so weak and helpless. "Why was this happening to me? Why won't Dave stop them? Where are JJ and Reid?' he thought desperately while looking at the ceiling fan that was leaving his view. He heard the men in white shouting before all went black.


	2. Chapter 2

Italics for thoughts and dreams. Sorry about that last chapter, I will fill in some of the blanks in this chapter. Also I know this is a lame subject but everyone gets to write what they want right? I own nothing.

 _He was walking into the empty bullpen of the BAU when he heard a crash. He raced to the source of the noise kicking down the door to his office and storming in with his gun at the ready. Susannah Regan was alive and sitting in a chair next to a long couch smiling at him. "Come in Aaron have a seat." she said as she fanned the smoke of burning sage towards him. He walked over to the couch and sat down. "Now Aaron, tell me about your father. Has he ever hurt you?" Aaron knew she was trying to manipulate him, but he didn't want to be caught in a lie so he stayed silent. "Aaron the sage makes it safe for you to talk..." Suddenly he was at home standing over a prone Beth laying in a pool of blood. Aaron looked down at his blood stained hands, to the knife on the floor and back at Beth. With a jolt he realized what he had done, "Beth! Beth can you hear me?" Aaron shouted at her as she remain unresponsive. "Did you see him? Did you see Lewis? Which way did he go?" Aaron demanded._

 _"Dad?" said his son Jack stepping into the black abyss that was Aaron's nightmare. Jack walked up to him and Beth. "Beth! Dad what happened!" asked Jack shocked and confused at the scene before him, racing over to Beth's dead body. Looking at his father and looking back at Beth terror filled his eyes. "Dad? What did you do? You killed her like you killed mom!" he screamed. "No Jack, it wasn't me I swear! I... he made me do it Jack you have to believe me!" cried Aaron. "Help!" Jack screamed and ran away from his father, "Someone help me please, he's going to kill me!" Aaron chased after him, "Jack quiet! Don't tell anyone what he made me do!" he said as he grabbed his son and pinned him to the floor. "You don't understand, I have to go find him and get him to admit he killed her before they lock me away forever. I'll never see you again..." Suddenly Aaron was holding the knife he used to kill Beth. "Let go of me! Someone help, he's going to kill me!" screamed Jack. "Shut up!" yelled Aaron as he drove the knife into his son's chest. A sickening scream filled the dark void of Aaron's consciousness, he heard a sharp beeping noise in his left ear. Someone was above him speaking in a low distant voice. It ensnared all of his senses and looking up he saw a blinding white light shining down on him._

"Mr. Hotchner can you hear me? If you can hear me squeeze my hand." said the intruder of his mind. Aaron tensed up as his eyes snapped open. A woman was standing over him with a light, shining it in his eyes. He became aware of a horrible pain in his chest. "Nurse turn that alarm off. Mr. Hotchner can you understand me?" she asked again. "Yeah." he said weakly in a cold sweat, eyes scanning the room for any potential danger. Noticing his surroundings he became calmer but miserable. 'How did I land myself back in a hospital?' he asked himself. "Are you in any pain Mr. Hotchner?" asked the woman who he now realized was a doctor. Memories came flooding back to him at once. Albuquerque, seven murders all committed by Conrad Wallace an orphan who preyed upon brown haired, green eyed women in their 20s resembling his mother who he blamed for his plight. His mother died two weeks before the third victim Maggie Reynolds was found savagely stabbed to death in her home. The team had touched down in New Mexico 14 hours later trying to find a connection with the victims and build a profile of their Unsub. Numerous interviews with friends of the victims revealed that all of the victims came from orphanages or group homes. Three days later Nicole Sutton was murdered and the team found that Sutton had lived in a group home for three years with a quiet and intelligent 12 year old boy by the name of Conrad Wallace. He was cunning and manipulative and managed to fly under the radar for four more days before he slipped up at Helen Smith's house; calling 911 and teasing the operators that he had killed seven woman and bragging that he could never be found. Garcia quickly traced his cell, found his location and sent the team to Laurie Jasser's house; his next intended victim. 'Did she die? Had they gotten there in time? What happened to Wallace and how in the hell did I manage to get shot? Where was his team, were they...'

"Mr. Hotchner!" said the doctor who looked like she had been calling his name for a while. "What?" he asked angrily feeling his already horrible mood deteriorate further. "Do you know where you are?' she asked while checking his vitals on the monitor. "In a hospital obviously." he said through clenched teeth, tongue dripping with sarcasm, "Did anyone come in with me?" "No but I'm assuming the FBI Agents who came later are with you." she said with forced kindness. "One of them has been insisting to see you once you're a bit better. His name is," she looked down at her tablet squinting her eyes, "Supervisory Special Agent David Rosky. Do you wish to see him when you are able?" she questioned. "It's Rossi, David Rossi and yes I want to see him. Now." he said with his last ounce of patience. "Mr. Hotchner calm yourself, you can see your friend soon. Are you in any pain?" she asked a second time. 'When is this woman going to stop asking stupid questions?' he thought angrily. "Yes. And if I have to tell you where..." 'you're not a doctor. And it's Supervisory Special Agent Hotchner.' Aaron finished in his head, growing tired of his own game. "My chest and my head." he answered dejectedly. "Do you know why you're here?" she questioned. _A loud pop as he dove to the ground winded. He couldn't get up, more popping, someone's hurt. Trying and failing to stand up, hitting his head. Dave shouting at him looking into his eyes, Emily and Morgan. Not being able to breathe, white hot pain, hands covered in blood, Emily's face. The lines between reality and dreams began to blur, seeing the empty bullpen, Susan Regan, killing Beth and brutally stabbing his own son while he screamed._

"Nurse get McDavid in here now!" The room was filled with the sound of Aaron's heart monitor's blaring alarm and rapid beeping. Aaron was mildly aware of the world around him, lost in his own despair. It had been another close call, he could have died and where would that leave Jack and Beth? 'How can I keep doing this to my son? I could have a great life with Jack and Beth but I would have to leave the FBI forever.' he thought helplessly to himself. He didn't know if he could do it. His team were a part of his family and he didn't want to leave them or his job, even if it got him killed. He saw light flashing in his eyes as he was almost brought back to reality. "Mr. Hotchner can you hear me?" another doctor shouted as an oxygen mask was placed over his face. "What's wrong with him? Wake him up! I can wake him up, Hotch!" raged a deep voice. 'Was that Morgan?' His last thought before drifting into oblivion was why he had dreamed of murdering his own son.


	3. Chapter 3

Italics for dreams and thoughts. I know there's too many adjectives and adverbs, but I'm still learning. I own nothing.

 _Creeping up the stairs of the house he shares with his wife and son, he aimed his gun at the only door he could see. He stopped his ascent wondering why he was affected by the drug Peter Lewis had given him. He wasn't adopted, he didn't grow up in a group home with Lewis, he wasn't coerced by Susannah Regan to make up stories about his teachers or his father. He himself had profiled that the victims shared a mental condition in order to have been affected by the drug. What made him similar to Lewis' victims? "Aaron no, please!"" he heard Haley shout, bringing him out of his thoughts. He steadied his hands and swung open the door to come face to face with something his mind couldn't quite grasp. A tall dark silhouette was standing over Haley and Jack looking at Aaron with piercing eyes he couldn't place. The nearly transparent figure shifted into focus to reveal a mirror image of himself. Aaron's breath caught in his throat as he lowered his gun, struggling to process the scene before him._

 _Haley and Jack were sitting on the ground shaking and crying; Haley's arm wrapped around her son and covering his eyes. "Aaron! No please Aaron, don't hurt us! Don't hurt Jack!" she begged. "Haley take Jack and run!" Aaron said raising his gun and pointing it at the imposter threatening his family. "No!" said the familiar stranger, "I want you to see this." He heard two shots and felt blood splatter on his face as his ears began to ring. He looked over to see Haley and Jack lying still with their faces frozen in an expression of terror, both shot in the neck. Aaron felt rage boiling up in his body so strong he staggered and almost passed out. His family had been taken from him again. 'Again?' Aaron thought to himself. He shook his thoughts away and trained his gun on the thing standing in front of him with a knowing smirk on his face. Enraged, Aaron fired his gun and stumbled backwards looking down at the blood pouring out of his chest. Collapsing to the ground, he heard more shots and someone shouting. Dave suddenly appeared at his right side staring at him furiously. Derek and Emily appeared over his head drawing their weapons. "We know what you did." Morgan said with a sadistic grin. "You're just like him!" spat Emily. Aaron looked to David for an explanation but he just looked away sadly and drew his weapon. Everything seemed to slow down and freeze as David, Emily and Morgan trained their guns at his head. The only thing moving was a ceiling fan directly above him. He watched in confusion as a brilliant white light flourished and expanded to all corners of the room before swallowing them all whole._

"Mr. Hotchner?" he heard someone say. Memories came flooding back to him and relief calmed his racing heart realizing he hadn't murdered his family, but his thoughts became numb and hollow as he reminded himself his wife had been dead for sometime. He opened his eyes and quickly shut them, his hand pushing the nurses' penlight away. "Get that thing out of my eyes." he said weakly, white spots dancing across his eyelids. Pain starting to radiate from his chest down to his stomach made him cry out. "I'll get you something for the pain in a moment Mr. Hotchner but answer my question, do you know where you are?" he asked kindly. "Hospital." Aaron ground out in agony breaking into a cold sweat. "Hold on Mr. Hotchner I'll get the doctor." he said hurrying out of the room. _What the hell kind of dream was that? What was that thing, and who shot Haley and Jack? That man didn't have a gun, I had the gun... I could never kill my own son. "Are you sure?" said a small, distant voice._ A slight feeling of uncertainty nagged at him thinking of the other dream of killing Beth, then having Jack blame him for it. Jack was too young to understand what his father went though. The image of chasing down Jack then stabbing him as he screamed for help was quite disturbing, but he was in too much pain to think about it, anyway it was just a dream. A familiar woman and an agitated David came into the room followed by the nurse with the penlight.

"Mr. Hotchner can you understand me?" the woman asked shining another light into his eyes and prodding him with her fingers while the nurse checked his IV and vitals. "Yeah, my chest..." he said breathlessly, squeezing his watery eyes shut against the expanding pain in his chest. David was standing at the foot of his bed looking anxious and giving him an encouraging smile. Aaron started to feel the pain ebb away slightly, "Is that better?" the doctor asked adjusting his oxygen tube, Aaron just nodded tensely waiting for the pain to go away. As they waited for the pain to level out Aaron saw the woman and David walk away from his bed, "... shouldn't be here, it's not appropriate..." said one voice, "... conducting an investigation headed by Section Chief Erin Strauss, if you have a problem you can take it up with her..." said another. With his pain lessening and his mind becoming more conscious he asked the first thing that came to his mind. "Am I going to be alright? David is everyone else OK?" he nearly shouted in apprehension. The two stopped their conversation and walked back to his bed, "You'll be fine Aaron, everyone is fine." assured David earning him a reproachful look from the woman. "Yes Mr. Hotchner you will fully recuperate and I'm Dr. Genderman. Now, do you know why you're here?" Aaron scoffed lightly in annoyance, not wanting to be treated like an invalid. "It's just procedure Sir." she prompted although she and David looked a little uncertain about what Aaron knew. "I was shot." he said shortly too tired to get angry. "How did you get shot Mr. Hotchner? Can you be slightly more specific?" asked the doctor.

"We were going after a killer, Conrad Wallace. I don't know how he shot me or when but he must have... 2016, Albuquerque New Mexico." Aaron said quickly wanting to get it over with. "So what happened to me?" Aaron asked causing the doctor, nurse and David to look at him like he had lost his mind. "I mean what are my injuries? I must have been in surgery, how did it go?" he asked in annoyance. "Of course," said the doctor looking visibly relieved, "The bullet gave you a sucking chest wound and your lung collapsed, you were on the table for three and a half hours. You also suffered two broken ribs on your right side and you lost a lot of blood, but we managed to keep you stable and repair all the damage. You dodged a bullet Mr. Hotchner." the doctor said immediately cringing at the unintentional pun. "I mean, you're very lucky to be alive. You were unconscious for about eighteen hours, you woke up briefly but we had to sedate you. Do you remember that?" she questioned. _Yes, that was right after I dreamed of stabbing Beth and Jack, and before I dreamed of shooting Haley and Jack to death. What does it mean?_ "Maybe, I'm not sure." he answered beginning to feel vulnerable, "Can we do this later? I'm feeling pretty tired." "Of course Mr. Hotchner, Agent Rossi..." "Conducting an investigation..." said David repeating his words from earlier. Somewhat of a standoff was starting to form between the two when Aaron stepped in, "Doctor, may he stay? I have a lot of questions pertaining to the investigation." Aaron said keeping up the ruse that David was playing as to not get kicked out. "Fine," she said defeated, "But as soon as you want some privacy you press this button right here," pointing to a panel on the bed, and giving David a dissatisfied look, "and Tom here will come and remove him. Here's your morphine drip, try not to use it too much." she said while giving it to Aaron. She left in a huff with Tom following quickly behind her. "Aaron, are you OK?" asked David, concern evident in his voice. "I... Yes, I'm fine." finished Aaron nervously. It was hard to speak to David when only a few minutes ago he, Emily, and Morgan were going to kill him. _The dream..._ _it felt so real._ David immediately looked skeptical but gave him a reassuring squeeze on his shoulder. "But I do really want to get some sleep." said Aaron not wanting to have this conversation now. "OK," said David pulling up a chair and sitting down next the his bed, "But I'll be here when you need me." Aaron adjusted his morphine drip and fell asleep.


	4. Chapter 4

Italics for thoughts and dreams. Please review this chapter, is there too much filler and not enough plot? What am I doing right/wrong? I own nothing.

 _Walking down the corridor that led to his apartment suite jangling his keys hoping he would be able to stay in Quantico until Monday so he could spend the weekend alone. If only he knew where Jack and Haley were he would find them and take them far away and spend the rest of his life in hiding; at least he would be with his family. He and his team had just gotten back from a grizzly case in Baltimore involving nine homeless men who were abducted, eaten and decapitated. Their Unsub, Joseph Hemsky scattered his victims remains all over the city succeeding in causing a widespread panic. Aaron was relieved to have found the man and put a bullet in his brain. Approaching the door to his apartment he came face to face with a familiar man. "Sean? What... What are you doing here?" asked Aaron, his eyes scanning every inch of his brother trying to get a sense of why he was here. "Nice to see you too Aaron," said Sean looking anywhere but in his brothers eyes, "Can I come in?" Aaron opened the door and motioned for Sean to enter while wondering what kind of trouble his brother had gotten himself into. Aaron put his briefcase and go bag down and went to turn on the light. Aaron found himself in a dark, draconian interrogation room lit only by a single candle, hands cuffed to the table sitting opposite Sean. "Sean, what is this?" Aaron asked in a panic tugging at his handcuffs, "What's going on?" "Just a precaution Aaron, I don't want you to go running off again." Sean explained. "Running off?" Aaron repeated quietly. "Why did you leave me?" Sean asked glaring madly at his brother. "I didn't want to leave, I was sent away! You know this!" Aaron yelled pulling at his handcuffs, looking for an escape. "You could have come back. You left me alone with... him!" Sean screamed manically, spitting out the last word with venom. "You never came back, you never wrote me, you never even called!" Sean yelled indignantly. "I did! I wrote and called they just didn't tell you. He... Father didn't want you to know!" cried Aaron standing up and pulling desperately on his restraints. "Why?" said Sean as his hands came down and slammed the table making the whole room rattle. "I don't know! He was a mean son of a bitch!" Aaron wailed in despair, echoing what Vincent Perotta had confessed to Aaron about his own father, Frank._

 _"Why don't we just ask him?" Sean said maliciously. Aaron stared at his brother in confusion and weariness. "Sean, he's been dead for years! You remember that day just as well..." The sound of loud footsteps filled the small oppressive room halting his thoughts. Aaron was overcome with paralyzing fear, he knew those footsteps and he knew what they meant. "Aaron!" howled a menacing voice followed by a woman's frantic plea, "No! Don't you touch him!" A thunderous crash rang in Aaron's ears as he struggled against the restraints. "Sean, let me go! Mom's hurt Sean, I have to help her!" Aaron begged his brother who responded by ginning wickedly at Aaron, "I'll never help her. She was weak, stupid, she got what she deserved." Aaron froze in place and looked at his brother as if he was seeing him for the first time, "What did you say?" Aaron asked with a combination of trepidation and anger, knowing he had heard that somewhere before. "Stay out of my way little girl unless you want that pretty face of yours crushed in!" said a dark silhouette as it made it's way into the room revealing itself. Sean backed away and cowered in the corner as the man Aaron knew to be his father approached him. Aaron concentrated on looking at his wrists which had become bloody in his attempt at freedom. "Look at me boy." growled his father in a an ominous tone. Reluctantly Aaron looked up and saw his father's deranged face and quickly looked back down again, frightened. The room melted away leaving only the table, revealing a thinly veiled black abyss that seemed to swallow the light as well as any hope of escaping the brutal hands of his father. He roughly grabbed Aaron by his hair and forced him to look into his eyes, "Look at me boy, look at what I've become!" Aaron stared horrified, helpless to look away as he watched his own eyes staring back at him. "You're rotten, boy! Worthless, just like me!" his father laughed savagely at the irony as he unbuckled his belt and wrapped it around his hand. A small boy came out of the shadows, "Dad, don't hurt him! Please!" screamed Sean. "Get back Sean! Go now!" yelled Aaron wanting his brother far away from their father's wrath. Seeing his father's belt buckle reflected off the flame of the candle, Aaron closed his eyes and thought of a place, any place far away from here. Aaron screamed in agony as audible cracks reverberated off Aaron's back and into the black veil. "Mom! Mom help! Help me please! Daddy please stop, I'll be a good boy, please! I can't take it, I can't..." begged Aaron as he babbled hysterically, drifting off into a world of pain. Despite his son's screams his father only beat him harder and the pain intensified, "Shout all you want boy, your mother won't help you!" Aaron bled onto the table as the handcuffs dug deep into his wrists in his desperation to free himself from this hellish place."I thought you said if you ever became me you would kill yourself? What are you waiting for boy?" asked his father. Suddenly Aaron was free and his father was gone. He stared, unmoving into nothingness as the room morphed into his office at the BAU. Glancing wildly around he realized he was sitting at his desk holding his side arm in his hand, looking down the barrel of his gun awoke a hateful feeling in the dark corners of his conscience. Without hesitation he pressed the gun to the roof of his mouth and fired._

Aaron awoke with a scream startling David who was asleep in the chair next to his hospital bed, "Dave! Where is he? Where's Sean?" Aaron screamed as he sat up looking around frantically. His heart monitor started sending out aggressive noises and alarms, "Easy Aaron!" Dave said as Aaron was fighting to stand, "Lay down don't move!" he said grabbing Aaron by the shoulders and easing him back down. A doctor and two nurses ran into the room and rushed to Aaron's bedside, pushing David out of the way. "Mr. Hotchner lay still, or you will tear your stitches!" yelled the doctor at Aaron, who seemingly was in another world. "Agent Rossi please wait outside!" a nurse shouted at David as he turned off the alarm. _Agent Rossi?_ "Dave!" Aaron shouted, hoping he wasn't alone. "I'm right here Aaron, you're safe, you're in the hospital." said David inching his way back to Aaron's bed. At this Aaron immediately stilled and lay back down catching his breath. The incessant beeping of the heart monitor slowed as Aaron came back to reality, fighting off thoughts of the horrid dream he just had. "It's OK I'm fine, please let David stay he was just trying to help." pleaded Aaron wanting some answers from David now that he was awake. "Mr. Hotchner are you in any pain?" _Obviously,_ he thought to himself tiredly but settled for a quiet affirmative. One of the nurses filled a syringe with what Aaron presumed to be a sedative. "No! I don't need that, I need to stay awake! I need answers, I'm not in that much pain." lied Aaron looking at the woman he recognized as Dr. Genderman. "Alright, but if this happens again I'll need to ask agent Rossi to leave." she informed Aaron while giving David a pointed look. She checked his vitals, adjusted his IV and left with the two nurses trailing behind her.

Aaron was blindly feeling around for the controls to the bed so he could sit himself up, "They're disabled, you've only been in the clear for a few hours now." explained David. "How long have I been here?" asked Aaron. "You got shot on the 23rd, you do the math." said David checking to see how lucid he was. Aaron gave a halfhearted glare at David's unwarranted concern, "Two days," he answered with confidence, "So everyone is OK?" asked Aaron uncertainly as his mind struggled to remain sober. "Yes, and before you ask Wallace is dead and Laurie Jasser wasn't even home." said David as he walked up to the side of Aaron's bed looking down at him. Aaron was relieved no one was hurt but had trouble focusing on anything else but his dreams. _Nightmares,_ he corrected himself, were all starting to blur together as he fought to decipher the meaning behind them. _First Beth then Jack, then Haley and Jack then that... thing. That person who looked just like him and..."_ "Sean?" said David interrupting his thoughts. "What?" asked Aaron anxiously, wondering if he talked in his sleep. "When you woke up you said 'Where's Sean?' You looked quite worried kid." said David eyes glued to Aaron's face waiting to detect any signs of distress. _Oh God,_ Aaron thought cringing at the pet name David used when he was concerned about him. "How did it happen? I don't even remember seeing him." asked Aaron ignoring David's question which he knows will come up again. David looked unconcerned at the deflection knowing he had stumbled upon something of importance, "I was behind Emily, we both saw him run across the doorway; he shot at the first person he saw. You ran into another room while we all followed him into the kitchen, Emily took him out." explained David. "Why didn't I see him?" asked Aaron. "Good question, I was hoping you could tell me." said David putting a hand on Aaron's shoulder. Aaron shook his head slightly trying to remember, "Where is everyone?" asked Aaron leaving that question for later. "Morgan and Emily are just outside, Reid and JJ are at Police Headquarters finishing up the case and handling the press. Would you like to see them?" David offered. "No. No not yet. When are we going home?" asked Aaron wondering how long he will be trapped here. "That doctor really is one for protocol, won't tell me anything. I'm sure she would tell you." said David. "Can you go get her?" asked Aaron, "And tell Morgan and Emily that I'm OK?" "Sure Aaron, hang on." said David leaving Aaron to his thoughts. _If Wallace was right in front of me, why didn't I see him?_ Aaron thought angrily to himself. _Why would I dream of killing my own son? I didn't kill Haley, Foyet did! I would never hurt Beth! Sean would never treat me like that.I was sent away to boarding school, but I never wanted to leave Sean, father sent me away; surely Sean knows that. I'm nothing like my father! I would never lay a hand on Jack. I would never kill myself!_ _I haven't dreamed of my father in years, why now?_ Questions ruthlessly plagued Aaron's thoughts as he waited to know when he could go home, desperate to see Jack and Beth.


End file.
